Fat Bikes Category Archive

Elisabeth owns a restaurant in the German village of Miesbach that has a pink color scheme. Last winter, she teamed up with videographer Colin Stewart and Maxx Bikes to create a custom pink and belted fat bike. The video below shows the making of the bike, which uses a Jagamoasta frame from Maxx, along with a Rohloff hub and belt drive. We enjoyed the peak inside the Maxx operation as it powdercoats the frame, builds the wheels and hands off the bike to Elisabeth, who seems pretty stoked about the whole process.

Want to see the bike in action? Read Stewart’s story, see more pictures and watch the followup video in which Elisabeth goes ice fishing and then rides up a ski slope to grill her catch. On, of course, Pinkbike.com.

Located in Chile’s arid Atacama Desert, the Ojos del Salado is the second tallest mountain in the Western Hemisphere at 6,893 meters (22,615 feet). It’s a cold, barren and unforgiving landscape. Earlier this year, German adventurer Guido Kunze came here on a quest to set a new world record for the highest altitude bike ride. His successful quest is featured in the German documentary, “Die Chile Challenge.”

A national hero in Germany, Guido set the record at 6:02 p.m. on October 16, 2014, when his Garmin Edge showed him topping out at 6,233 meters (20,449 feet). Guido had ridden for 37 hours, 11 minutes and 12 seconds, pedaling 342 kilometers (212 miles) from the warm Pacific coast to the thin air of Ojos del Salado. High winds, soft sand and a lack of oxygen pressed Guido to the limit, requiring him to push his bike the final meters, but fitness and fortitude allowed him to beat the previous record of 6,085 meters (19,964 feet).

The Ojos del Salado is the latest crazy athletic feat for Guido, an ultra runner and ultra cyclist whose adventure resume includes riding the Tour de France course in nine and a half days, crossing Australia by bike in seven days, mountain biking the Great Wall of China, completing the Race Across America, and more.

Guido completed the adventure on a Ghost fat bike with a Gates Carbon Drive belt system and a Pinion gearbox. The bike and components were chosen to give Guido superior traction on the steep sand, and to provide low gearing, surefire shifting, and no chain maintenance during the ride. Read more about the adventure and bike at Ghost Bikes. Thanks to photographer Christian Habel for all the images in this post.

Winter is dark and cold in the Finnish Lapland, the northernmost region of Finland above the Arctic Circle. This region is home to vast herds of reindeer and to the indigenous Sámi people, as well as the aurora borealis that casts a colorful glow across the night sky. Sunlight is fleeting. Days seem like perpetual dusk due to the low angle of the sun. It is not someplace where one thinks of going for a bike ride.

In this harsh and beautiful setting, Swedish bicyclist Oskar Juhlin will compete in the 150-kilometer Rovaniemi Arctic Fat Bike Race from Feb. 20-22. Wearing a headlamp and lights he will ride through the night, resting briefly to eat, sleep and drink water, surviving the frigid nights in a polar sleeping bag. Juhlin is an endurance athlete and industrial designer in Stockholm. “I love biking and I love snow,” he says. Juhlin will ride a custom Mi:Tech fat tire bike with a Pinion P1.18 gearbox and Gates Carbon Drive belt system. He chose these components to avoid mechanical problems with a chain and derailleur in the snow. “I’m impressed how well the combo of Pinion and Gates works in the snow and ice. It seems like the belt cleans itself from the snow and slush.” Juhlin took these photos while training. Good luck Oskar, and stay warm. More information at pinion.eu

Gates-Nicolai Mountain Bike Team member–and Swiss BMX champion–David Graf ditches his BMX bike for a Nicolai Argon FAT in the new video “Pig Rodeo.” Watch G-Raf fly the tabletops and air out his balloon tires like a supersonic swine on the trails of Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

Frank Schneider of the Gates-Nicolai mountain bike team shatters the stereotype that fat bikes are for old guys with beards who want to go for slow rides in the snowy woods. “Schneidi” met up recently with photographer Hoshi Yoshida for a shoot in a gravel pit near the Nicolai headquarters in Germany. The Argon Fat that he is riding is one of the most innovative fat bikes on the market. Thanks to the Pinion gearbox and Gates belt it provides twice the fun with none of the grease. The Argon Fat will be displayed at Eurobike next week and Interbike in early September. If you are attending, come check it out. You may not be able to ride this pig like Schneidi, but imagine how fun it will be in the snowy woods.